On April 16th a good friend of mine and I finally were able to go out and celebrate our birthdays. Due to crazy schedules, we had to wait more than a month to get something in the calendar. After going back and forth between hibachi and Mexican, we decided on a BYOB Mexican place we went to years ago in Boonton, NJ called Chili Willies. It’s a small colorful little place on Main Street. The parking isn’t ideal and can be difficult, but if you go earlier like we did, it shouldn’t be that big of an issue. We arrived about 6pm.
Let me start by saying I LOVE their salsa. I remembered how good it was from several years back. Chunky with a little bit of heat with colorful tortilla chips to boot. My friend said it was an explosion of flavor and if you need a sinus cleanse, the salsa does the trick in an awesome way.
Chili Willies has a very elaborate menu that is economically reasonable. I ordered the steak florentine (there is a chicken option) off the chef specialty section and asked to leave out the rice and beans. The dish contained steak, sautéed peppers, onions, mushrooms, and fresh garlic topped with spinach, other veggies and cheese ($21.95). It was supposed to also be topped with salsa, sour cream, and pico degallo salad but it was left off mine. Probably just a mistake.
Look at that presentation! This entrée was so delicious. I cannot even begin to tell you how flavorful all the veggies were. Even the aroma of it was mouth watering. I highly recommend this dish! Especially for you keto folks. I also ordered a small side of guacamole. ($4.50) While small in portion for $4.50, it was very fresh.
My friend ordered the Cinco de Mayo platter off the specialty combinations platter section. It came with a tamale, enchilada, and chile relleno ($19.95). Side orders consisted of rice, beans and pico de gallo salad. She said everything was so tasty. She skipped the rice, and liked the fact they allowed that accommodation. The pico de gallo salad was huge in portion. You do NOT get shorted on portion sizes at this place. She got a mix of pork in the tamale, chicken in the chili relleno and beef in the enchilada. The tamale pork was tasty, but the masa ended up being too dry for her personally. She stated that’s not at all a “knock on the restaurant.” She loved the enchilada and chili relleno a lot and found it to be moist, tasty, and filling. The pico de gallo salad featured below lasted two meals and its flavor still held up.
This restaurant is so extremely economically reasonable that with tip it cost us each about $28.00. There is no doubt that each of us will return here at some point and bring different people.
After dinner we decided to go for after dinner drinks but as we were walking to our next destination, I saw my friend looking in the window of the place next door called Creations by Sabrina. I joined her at the window and said “Oh My God!” This place had the most delicious looking gourmet cupcakes. She looked at me and I looked at her and we were both like “We are going in.” Creations by Sabrina is a definite must stop if you are in the Boonton area.
I love coconut and birthday cake/funfetti anything. When I got home that night I made myself have willpower and cut in half the coconut cupcake. The cake was moist and the icing was thick with shredded coconut topping. Heavenly. On Easter Sunday, I ate the funfetti cupcake. The cake had sprinkles mixed in it. No words except so good and very fresh.
My friend bought a raspberry cream and also the birthday cake cupcake. When she got home and shared with her husband, he wanted the whole raspberry cream, but they ended up sharing it, as she claimed half of it at the outset. They both loved the taste. The chocolate and raspberry flavors were subtle and nothing was overly sugary, which is their preference. She felt the cake itself was a tad dry, but she said again, that may be her and her own medical dryness issues, as her husband didn’t comment on dryness. She tried the birthday cake one two days later and it was very tasty and not a sugar bomb. It was a nicely balanced cupcake.
After buying cupcakes, we put them and our leftovers in the car and walked into Sharky’s for an after dinner drink. We both ordered a Baileys. I got mine on the rocks and she got hers neat. Baileys has always been my go to after dinner drink. Usually more in the fall and winter but I will still get it on occasion in the spring and summer.
It was a really great night with a friend of 20 plus years celebrating us and catching up. See below for location information.
Chili Willies
702 Main Street
Boonton, NJ
Creations by Sabrina
706 Main Street
Boonton NJ
https://www.creationsbysabrinallc.com/
Sharky’s
108 Boonton Ave
Boonton, NJ
The Food Connection 